Alive
by MysticMayhem2403
Summary: Back in the Capital just days after the rebellion, Katniss finds an old friend down in a cell below the Justice building.
1. Chapter 1

I walked numbly down the hallway in the justice building of the Capital. I hate it here, the war just ended barely four days ago and I've already been forced to come back. Thankfully this time its under better circumstances, it make me feel a little better knowing this time I'm not going to be thrown into an arena.

I just escaped Effie drilling me about some interview I have to do tonight about the new government, the rebellion, and whatever. I just wish I could go home, with Prim, and my mother and have everything the way it was. But Prim's gone along with so many others, and things will never be the same.

I force myself through the corridors, and somehow end up in a section full of cells. I need to stop, I shouldn't do this to myself but for some reason I keep waking, I look in every cell, as if expecting someone to still be there. I reach the end of the hall staring up at a large metal door, I grab the handle and with a hard push the door opens, behind it is another cell. In the corner I notice someone hunched over in the corner.

"Oh my gosh…" I whisper quietly, I open the cell and walk over the figure, as I kneel beside him I see the scars and gashes some that look new some that are old and healing.

The person looks oddly familiar so I reach out and shake their shoulder gently, the man turns and I find myself looking at a familiar pair of green eyes.

"Cinna." I whisper clearly he is just as shocked as I am.

"Katniss." He says, suddenly his expression turns to panic and his eyes start searching me,

"Katniss you have to leave they can't find you here! They haven't hurt you have they? Go!" his words come out quickly, I frown and take his rough dry hands in mine.

"Cinna, relax its okay, I'm fine, no one is going to hurt us anymore, its over we won." I tell him he calms down and takes a deep breath.

I take a moment to look over him, he's been beaten obviously only a few scars are noticeable, he has one on the side of his neck, and it's just a thin white line. I look at his arms; they are cover in bruises and cuts. He has a small bruise beside his eye and a small gash above his left eyebrow.

"You did it." He says, with a smile. I look up at him and shake my head; I raise my hand and touch the cut above his eyebrow softly,

"We did it." I correct him with a smile of my own, I pull my hand away and I help him up.

"Come on lets get out of here." I say draping one of his arms around my shoulders; we limped down the hall, and into the elevator.

"We have been looking all over for you do you-oh." Effie stops mid rant as we step out of the elevator; the look on her face was priceless when she realized who was with me.

"Haymitch!" She calls, and the now sober mentor rushes over.

"Oh gosh… someone get help!" he shouts as he helps me sit Cinna down in a chair.

"I found him down there, I thought all of the prisoners were released." I say, as parametics rush over,

"So did I." Haymitch replies, Effie comes over after a minute;

"They say he's pretty banged up…"

"Really? We had no idea!" Haymitch interrupts, Effie rolls her eyes and ignores him knowing he only does that to annoy her;

"But he is going to be okay, he will have to stay in the hospital for a few days but none of the injuries are that bad and will heal soon. The doctors are more worried about how thin and dehydrated he is." She continues. I look over to where they are putting Cinna on a stretcher,

"You can see him later; right now you must get ready for the interview." Effie tells me,

"Just give me a sec." I say than walk over to Cinna, I take his hand and he smiles at me,

"I'll come and see you soon, I have an interview with Caesar in two hours." I tell him, he nods,

"Thank you." He says,

"No don't thank me, none of what I did would have been possible with out you." I tell him, he squeezes my hand and I hear Effie trill behind me;

"Come now Katniss!" I resist the urge to roll my eyes at her accent, she lost most of it through the course of the rebellion and now only uses it when she gets impatient, and because she knows it drives me up a wall, she has been spending to much time with Haymitch.

"I'm coming!" I holler back, I throw Cinna one last smile before striding over to where Effie is waiting, her hand on her hip, and tapping her foot.

She leaves me in the colorful hands of my prep team, who are gushing about Cinna as they braid my hair, do my make-up and dress me in a dark red number that comes down to my knees.

Once I'm ready I'm escorted to the interview, anxious to get it done so I can go see my stylist.

"Welcome back darling it's good to see you." Caesar greets me and kisses my cheek,

"Thank you Caesar its good to see you too." I say with a big fake smile. Once we are sitting down he starts drilling me with questions;

"Now Katniss tell me how you are holding up?" he asks,

"Just fine thank you." I reply a little too quickly.

"Good and how is Peeta?" this strikes a painful cord in me,

"They are doing all they can but it will be awhile." I tell him not wanting to dwell to much a Peeta's condition.

"And I have to tell you I was terribly sorry to hear about your sister." He says sympathetically. I take a deep breath;

"She's okay now, she is with our dad." I try to say strongly, but my voice still cracks at the end.

The rest of the interview goes by quickly and when I'm done I strip off the dress and pull on a pair of jeans and a yellow blouse, then I wash off my make up and head over to the hospital. As soon as the nurse says I can see him I walk into his room, he is laying on the bed motionless at first; I thought he was asleep, but when the door closed behind me his eyes fluttered open.

"How are you doing?" I ask, he smiles,

"Better, come here." He says, I cross the room and sit on the side of his bed, he takes my hand and looks at it, tracing the small white scar on it.

"Are you okay?" he asks,

"I will be. Cinna when they came for you before I was lifted into the arena, I thought…" I start babbling until he cuts me off;

"That they were going to kill me." He finishes for me; I can already feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

"Listen Katniss, even if they did, I would never have left you, I would be with you always, in the clothes I made for you, and more importantly In your heart." He says, the tears finally spill over, he pulls me into his arms and I bury my face in his chest.

"I will always be there for you Katniss, if you ever need anything." He says, I look up at him;

"I know we just found you like three hours ago, but come back to District twelve with me." I say, he looks at me for a minute,

"Of course I will, but first we have other stuff to do here." He says, I nod, and he kisses my forehead.

"Cinna?" I ask after a moment;

"Yes?" he replies;

"Thank you."


	2. Chapter 2

_Not finished yet, more chapters to come, I hope ya'll like it! :)_

* * *

It's not long until Cinna is able to leave the hospital, and go back to the training center with the rest of us. I knock lightly on his door a few hours later, and wait until I here him say come in. I walk in and close the door behind me.

"How does it feel being out of the hospital?" I ask, his back is turned towards me.

"Good, did you need something?" he asks turning around, he narrows his eyes probably wondering what it is I'm holding behind my back;

"Oh just to return some things you might want back." I say, than bring one of my arms from behind my back, in my hand is a black rectangular book that he recognizes immediately, his face breaks out in smile as he walks closer and takes the book.

"Thank you." He says flipping through it;

"There is one more thing." I say he looks up and raises an eyebrow; I bring my other hand in front of me, revealing a tube of gold eyeliner, he bursts out laughing.

"Thank you again." He says taking it from me still chuckling; I grin and sit down on the small couch.

"So what all are you doing here in the Capital?" he asks as he applies the eyeliner in a mirror.

"Um interviews, parties, wedding dress shopping." He looks at me in the mirror with a raised eyebrow;

"Oh no not mine, It's for Effie." I say he looks even more surprised,

"Effie is getting married?" he asks shocked, I chuckle and nod,

"To whom?" he asks closing the eyeliner, I shake my head;

"You'll find out later." I say, he turns to me and sighs jokingly,

"Fine, now tell me how this looks." He asks gesturing to his eye make-up.

* * *

That night we all eat dinner in the dinning room just like we did before the games only this time without Peeta and Portia.

"It's rude to stare Cinna." Effie scolds, Cinna chuckles;

"I'm sorry Effie, its just I'm not used to seeing you without the wigs, or the make-up." He says, she smiles;

"Yes well these certainly have been changing times." She replies.

"So Effie, I hear you are getting married." He says, her smile grows;

"Yes I am and I can't be more happier." She says, showing him the ring on her left hand.

"May I ask to whom?" he asks, taking a sip of his drink;

"Haymitch." Cinna nearly chokes on his wine when the name left Effie's lips. He looks at Haymitch, who as a grin on his face that's boarder lining on a smirk.

"Wow." Cinna manages as I try to stifle my laughter.

"I can honestly say I did not expect that." Cinna says,

"No one did." Haymitch says taking Effie's hand, I swallow the last of my laughter, and take a sip of my drink.

"And Katniss here has agreed to be my bridesmaid." Effie tells him, Cinna looks at me and chuckles;

"That's even more surprising." He says, I grin at him, resisting the urge to stick my tongue out.

"I was going to wait to ask you, but I'll just go a head and ask now, Will you design the dresses?" Effie asks; we all look at him; he smiles;

"I've been waiting for you to ask; of course I'll do it!" he replies;

"Thank you!" Effie says smiling so wide it looks painful.

* * *

After dinner they all retire to bed, but I find Cinna on the couch in the sitting room, sketching.

"Hey." I say taking a seat beside him.

"Hello Katniss." He replies;

"Sketching ideas for the dresses?" I ask, he nods;

"Not too hard for you is it?" I ask jokingly, he looks at me with a grin then looks back at his sketchbook;

"Just for that I'm putting you in pink." He says, my expression turns to horror,

"No please don't!" I beg, he starts laughing, and shakes his head;

"Nope to late!" he says;

"Please!" I say;

"Fine but the Effie has given me her color preference, the other one is light purple." he asks, I consider this for a moment;

"Better." I reply, he smiles and closes his book.

"Effie and Haymitch, who would of thought?" he asks, I shrug,

"This might not be my story to tell, but I will say this, When we found Effie, she was…different, she was distant, and she wouldn't allow anyone to help her cope. She turned to her wigs and make-up hoping they would act as sort of a shield, protecting her. Haymitch helped her, and in a way, I think she helped him to." I tell him.

"The wars been hard on everyone." He says, I nod in agreement, but can't help the images of Prim that flow through my head. As if reading my mind Cinna says;

"Haymitch told me about Prim, I'm sorry Katniss." He says,

"Don't be, at least I know she's safe now." I reply;

"We all are now." He says standing up,

"I'll see you in the morning." He says;

"Good night." I mummer, He leans down and kisses her forehead.

"Goodnight my Girl on Fire."

* * *

_ Review!_


	3. Chapter 3

_The next chapter:)_

* * *

I clenched my teeth as Venia tugs on my hair as she finishes putting it up, for the dinner to celebrate the revolution. When she's done I walk back into the lounge where I'm almost surprised to see Cinna waiting for me.

"Hey." I greet walking towards him; he gives me a small smile;

"Close your eyes." He orders, I do as told and he removes my robe, and helps me into a dress. He zips it up; and smoothes my hair before leading me over to a mirror.

"Open them." He says; when I do, I can't help but smile, the dress is gold, like my mocking jay pin, it's fitted at the top but flows out around my knees, it makes me glow. I turn around and hug Cinna;

"It's gorgeous!" I say quietly, he pulls away and helps me into a pair of high heels.

"You're coming right?" I ask him,

"Yes, I am." He says, I sigh in relief, I'm not sure why but I feel a lot better knowing he is going to be there.

Not long later we are all in an elevator on our way down to the lobby. I take a deep breath and Cinna offers me his arm, I loop mine through it as we walk towards the exit.

* * *

We hurry through the crowd of people with cameras, and "Fans" to the car waiting to take us to the justice building. When we arrive we are escorted into a huge ballroom elegantly decorated. After greeting almost everyone, the new president gives a speech, then the music starts again and people take to the dance floor.

"Would you like to dance Miss Everdeen?" one of the guests asks, he's a tall dark headed man holding his and out waiting for me to answer, I glance around the table, Effie nods, and I place my hand in his.

When we reach the dance floor, one of his arms wrap a little too tightly around my waist, and the other one grasping my hand. I allow my other hand to rest lightly on his arm.

"I have to say I was impressed with what you did during the rebellion." He says quietly, the lack of space between us making me feel uncomfortable.

"Thank you." I reply,

"You look amazing tonight." He says, I fake a shy smile;

"Again thank you." I say,

"Tell me how is that star crossed lover of yours?" he asks, I tense up but he doesn't realize it;

"I haven't heard anything yet, but I know they are doing everything they can." I say quietly as we dance.

"Why don't we…" he is cut off by someone tapping on his shoulder, I glance up to see Cinna standing beside us,

"Do you mind?" Cinna asks the man gesturing to me; the guy drops his arms and steps back;

"Not at all, Pleasure miss." He says as Cinna takes me in his arms and we start dancing.

"Your timing is amazing thank you." I say, letting myself relax;

"I saw you tense, are you okay?" he asks looking me directly in the eyes, I nod,

"He brought up some touchy subjects." I say, he raises an eyebrow;

"Peeta." I mutter,

"Oh." He replies understanding; I shrug and for some reason he tightens his arms around me.

* * *

When the party is over we go back to the apartment and I bid goodnight to the others before going to my room, changing into some pajamas and trying to get some sleep. But every time I close my eyes, images of Prim and Rue flash in my mind.

I give up on sleep, and start to roam around the apartment. I jump when I hear a loud crash coming from the room I was walking by; I knock softly before opening the door quietly and walking in. Sitting on a small couch sketchbook in hand, surrounded by a bunch of pictures, is Cinna, as I walk closer I see that the loud crash I heard was result of a vase being thrown at a wall. I can also tell that Cinna has been crying.

I walk over to where he is, I don't think he has noticed my presence yet, but I look around at the pictures he has drawn, and it feels like I'm being stabbed in the heart when I notice that all of the pictures are of Portia.

"Cinna…" I say softly laying a hand on his shoulder; He sniffs but doesn't look at me.

"I'm sorry, I am so sorry." I say, if it weren't for me, Portia would still be alive. This time he does look at me and I try not to flinch at the pain he is usually so good at hiding. He pulls me down beside him;

"No, after the stunt I pulled with the dress, I warned her to get out, but she couldn't just leave, we still had to get you ready, I knew they were coming for me but I never thought they would take her too, I guess I should have expected it." He says; I take his sketchbook from his hands and look at it; it's a drawing of not just Portia, but me as well.

"Can you tell me about her?" I ask, he smiles;

"She was beautiful, and amazingly talented. We met just after collage, I think I was the only one ever to see her without all the make up and wigs. She had curly brown hair; and her normal eye color was hazel. The way she lights up when she laughs or comes up with a new design, she just glowed. She had a particular gleam in her eyes, and even while we were in the cell together it never went away, whenever I looked in her eyes, it was always there. She made the days bearable, until one day the guards took her, and she didn't come back." A few more tears spilled from his eyes as he finished, I reached up and wiped them away, he takes my hand in his and sighs.

"I loved her." He says, this sends another stab of pain through me for some reason. I find it strange how similar our situation is, He loved Portia, and lost her; I loved Peeta and lost him. I get it now, Peeta is still alive, but he is gone, stolen by the capital, replaced with some experiment, sent to destroy me.

"I zoned out after that, the next thing I was fully aware of was you, kneeling beside me, telling me everything was okay, that we had won." He says; I squeeze his hand comfortingly, he wraps his arm around my shoulder pulling me closer;

He may have lost Portia, and I may have lost Peeta, but we haven't lost each other.

"People will live as long as you remember them." I tell him, he looks at me, before smiling, and kissing my forehead.

* * *

_ The next chapter will hopefully be out soon! Hope you guys liked it! Review! _


	4. Chapter 4

**_ The final chapter! I apologize for the slow update, My head has been blocked! But i hope this chapter doesn't disappoint to much.:) Oh and when you finish the chapter please read the authors note at the end:) _**

* * *

"_KATNISS!" it's rue… she's screaming for me, I'm running as fast as I can, I need to get to her. I burst into the clearing, but Rue is not there. Instead, President Snow sits on the ground, a jabber jay on his shoulder, a white rose with a thick, dark red substance on it…blood._

"_You're too late MockingJay." He speaks not looking up at her, She shakes her head… she can't be too late. Just then a large mutt bursts into the clearing, knocking me to the ground, I can't move, my body is locked, it's almost like I'm stuck to the ground. _

_Growling the mutt moves to where it's standing over me, I look up my eyes lock with the mutt, I want to scream at what I see…but I can't. My voice is gone, so is she, but she's not, those are her eyes, I would know them anywhere…._

_It is Rue._

* * *

"Katniss?" I'm given another shake, and finally I awake screaming. Arms embrace me. Rocking me back and forth gently, I know who it is instantly.

"Cinna?" I pull away to look at him, then I realize I'm crying, I wipe my tears away with the back of my hand.

"I could hear you all the way from my house, are you okay?" he asks,

"Did I wake you?" I ask, he shakes his head;

"I was already awake." He replies. Cinna has been living in victors Village for the past couple of months since I was proved to be clinically insane and sent back.

"Do you want to talk about it Katniss?" he asks,

"It was about Rue and Snow…" the sentence stops after Snow, and I frown and close my mouth, the rest of the sentence dying in my throat, I just can't bring myself to talk about it.

Cinna understands. He always does. I take the moment to change the subject.

"I haven't seen you in a couple of day's, How is everything going?" I ask, seeing the sudden change of conversation as a sign that I was done talking about the dream, he answers;

"Good, the dresses are all done for the wedding in a few weeks so everything is going as planned." He says, shifting to where he's more comfortable, Lights flash outside, they are just visible through my curtains. I hear the door open and close down stairs. I glance at the clock that reads 6:00 am.

It's too early for greasy sue. I would think Haymitch was not the kind to get up early. Effie perhaps? A few seconds later, Haymitch appears at the door way,

"Come with me." He says before turning and walking back down stairs. Confused I stand up and Cinna who is for some reason smiling walks beside me.

"However, I am going to District One, for a week or two." He says as we walk down stairs;

"What? why?" I ask, his statement catching me slightly off guard;

"My mother lives there." He says I get it now; I give him a soft smile as we walk towards the door;

"I'm sure she will love seeing you." I tell him, he returns my smile.

"Don't worry though, I'm sure you will hardly notice my absents." He says with amusement on his face, I frown, once again confused, and then Cinna swings open the door, looking out across my yard I know what he meant. Standing there beside a black car… is Peeta. I whirl around to Cinna;

"You knew?" I ask, He grins, I look back at Peeta who catches my eye and smiles that same damn smile that he used to give to me.

"Katniss!" He calls out, walking/jogging across my lawn. My legs unfreeze and I meet him half way.

"Peeta." I whisper as he hugs me. _Please don't let this be a dream. _I think tightening my grip around him, as if to keep him from disappearing. He pulls away but keeps both of my hands in his.

"You're…" I start but he cuts me off;

"I'm really here." He say's, Joy runs through me, as I take in his appearance, same blonde hair, same eyes. He looks over my head;

"Cinna!" He greets as Cinna walks over to us; I let go of Peeta's hands and Haymitch pulls me over as Cinna and Peeta talk.

"How did you do it?" I ask; he chuckles;

"I didn't, a group of highly trained experts did." He says then he turns serious;

"Katniss I want you to be careful around him, they managed to undo most of it, but he can still have an episode. When one does hit, I want you to get as far away from him as you can, just let him work it out himself, alright?" he asks quietly, I glance back at Peeta who is still laughing with Cinna and Effie.

"Okay, I'll be careful." I tell him honestly, he gives me some kind of half smile, before patting me on the back and walking back towards the car.

Smiling like an idiot I rejoin the others.

* * *

I still notice the scars as my prep team zips me up into my light purple bridesmaid dress. The scars remind me of the war, against the man who still makes a guest appearance in my nightmares. The same war that took away the lives of many innocent people as well as my friends and my sweet little sister Prim. She would have loved being here today. All of the dresses and the excitement.

Yes people, it is finally the day of Effie and Haymitch's wedding.

Cinna enters, and circles me, Making sure the prep team did exactly what he told them to. My hair, is braided like it always is. I even allowed them to weave flowers in that matches my dress. He smiles and tucks a hand under my chin;

"Head high." he says, I laugh quietly, as Effie enters the room.

I'm taken back by how normal she looks. No wig, light make-up, simple dress, ballet flats. She's practically glowing in the gown that hugs her body but starts to flow out when it reaches about an inch above her knee. Her golden hair falls in elegant curls over her shoulders.

"Effie, you look amazing!" I say as she hugs me.

"Thank you Katniss!" she smiles. I open my mouth to say something but the door opens and Peeta steps in.

Yes Peeta, he has returned, as himself mostly. They managed to undo most of the hijacking, but he still has his moments. However when one does hit, he squeezes his eyes shut and clutches something until it passes. He's there every night, holding me, keeping the nightmares at bay.

"It's time." He says, holding his hand out to me.

* * *

The music starts. The backyard of Haymitch's house has been entirely transformed for the wedding, it's gorgeous, they didn't want a huge ceremony just a small one with close friends and family. Peeta and I walk arm and arm down the isle, neither of us could stop the smiles that grew on our faces as we walked. When we reached the end, we separated to stand at different sides of the alter. A few minutes later, Effie and Cinna appear at the end of the isle.

I glance at Haymitch whose eyes are locked on Effie. You can see the love he has for her in his eyes as they walk towards him. I chuckle quietly at the blush heating Effie's cheeks as Cinna places her hand in Haymitch's. Cinna mutters something to Haymitch, and kisses Effie's cheek before sitting down.

He catches my eye as the ceremony begins and smiles at me; I grin back and turn my attention to Effie and Haymitch as they proceed with their vows.

"I do." Haymitch says, sliding the ring onto Effie's hand.

"I do." Effie does the same and Plutarch announces them man and wife. With out hesitating Haymitch pulls Effie to him and kisses her. The crowd stands and cheers.

Later as people greet the married couple, others dance, some eat and drink. Cinna walks towards me and holds out his hand, I smile and take it.

"I think this worked out rather well." I say as we dance, he chuckles;

"Yes it did." He replies;

"Effie's dress was gorgeous Cinna, I was almost jealous of her." I say; he ducks his head slightly, than grins;

"Who knows?' he says, 'I might be designing one for you one day." He says, I don't know what to say at this, and he sees my blush and laughs; As if on cue Peeta appears beside us.

"May I?" he asks, Cinna's grin widens.

"Don't hold your breath." I mutter to Cinna as he hands me, still blushing, over to Peeta, Cinna laughs at my words and walks over to Effie and soon enough Peeta and I are dancing.

"What was that about?" he asks with an amused smile, I shake my head;

"Nothing." I reply.

"You look amazing." He tells me I blush harder;

"Thank you." I mutter back resting my chin on his shoulder suddenly he stops dancing;

"Why don't we go for a walk?" he asks, I agree and we set off from the crowd and the lights down the street of victor's village;

"Effie and Haymitch seem happy." He says as we walk;

"They do, you can tell they really love each other." I say;

"And to think when we first met them, it seemed they couldn't stand each other." He says grinning; I laugh remember how the bubbly escort once drove Haymitch insane.

We walk in silence until we reach the meadow, its rather dark seeing as they decided to have the wedding in the evening. Peeta wraps his arms around my waist and I lay my head on his chest, relaxing in his hold.

"Can I ask you something?" he asks;

"Sure." I say;

"You love me; Real or not real?" he asks; I pull back to look at him, Kind of shocked that he would have to ask, since I have told him so many times how I feel about him.

"Real." I answer honestly, and he leans down and kisses me. It's quick and gentle, he looks me in the eyes as we pull away, and says something. Two words, I catch them clear as day…

"Marry me."

* * *

**_ HahaxD sorry you guys probably hate me for leaving it like that. But Anyway i am leaving the ending up to you! You can decide what to do from here:) Thank you all so much for reading and i hoped you all liked it. Feel free to leave your review but please be gentle.:) Oh and Thank you to the ones who have already reviewed or Favorited or followed this story it means a lot! _**

**_ -MM- _**


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